The BBC is attacked by MPs today for wasting tens of millions of pounds of licence payers' money on a new complex at its White City headquarters in London. The buildings are not fully occupied because of staff cuts and plans to move broadcasters from London to Manchester.

A report from the Commons public accounts committee accuses the corporation of giving "excessive returns" to the private property consortium Land Securities Trillium for three new buildings, a broadcast centre, media centre and an energy centre - using waste energy to heat the entire complex - under a 30-year private partnership deal.

The report reveals that the BBC paid out an extra £31m to accept the £210m Land Securities tender over the nearest shortlisted bidder, then spent another £60.9m fitting out the building with state-of-the-art technology and furniture. The buildings were commissioned before the BBC decided to cut staff by 4,000 and move 1,500 to Manchester.

The committee says that a year after the buildings were completed in 2004, 22.5% of the offices were empty, though this has recently fallen to 6.5%. The energy centre - with office space worth £1m - has been left as a shell. It may still be used as offices, pending a decision on whether the BBC will construct another building to house its orchestras.

Plans for the green combined heat and power scheme have not been commissioned two years after the building was completed.

The corporation is also accused by MPs of letting some space at subsidised rents to a commercial subsidiary, BBC Broadcast Ltd, which breaks the rules of the BBC charter. The BBC denied this yesterday.

A spokesman said: "The BBC Broadcast contract was based across a 30-year term to recover all of the BBC's costs. There was and can be no question of the BBC not securing full cost recovery from its commercial subsidiaries."

Edward Leigh, Conservative chairman of the committee, says today: "The cost of the development turned out to be over £60m more than the amount originally approved by the governors."

The BBC said yesterday that it planned to respond fully to the MPs' criticisms.

MPs are now pressing for Sir John Bourn, the comptroller and auditor general, to have unfettered access to the BBC's accounts. The BBC is resisting this.

Jeremy Dear, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, which represents staff at the BBC, said: "One set of managers are working on expansion plans, another set are planning cuts. This is an expensive mess and staff are now paying with their jobs over a colossal management failure over this project."